Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC comment: Fourth place is priority for Reds
IT started just days after the Champions League exit. Arsenal were the visitors to Anfield. Not renowned for their sharp terrace humour, the Gunners supporters proceeded to have a laugh at the expense of their hosts, trying out a new ditty that was purpose made for the occasion.[LNB]As 'Thursday night. Channel Five' rang out from the Anfield Road towards the Kop the ignominy of slipping through the Champions League trap door into the Europa League suddenly hit home.[LNB]For anyone watching on TV last night, the temptation to flick over to Channel 4 and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding must have been difficult to resist as Liverpool struggled to break the deadlock against the little known Unirea Urziceni.[LNB]With that, the Gunners fans might well gloat.[LNB]Their trip to Oporto a night earlier marked a 10th consecutive year in the Champions League knockout stage. No other team can boast such an enviable record.[LNB]They might never have won it, but consistent participation throughout the competition's wealthiest era has guaranteed Arsenal a share of the riches that are deemed essential for the privileged few to continue to rub wallets year after year.[LNB]With Liverpool clinging on to their claims for re-entry into that competition Arsenal's model of consistency will attract enviable glances from the Anfield's money men.[LNB]It seems the penny is yet to drop with those who hold the purse strings, though, that investment in the squad increases the probability of success on the pitch which in turn delivers the financial rewards to sustain your position at the top of the game.[LNB]It's not exactly rocket science, and yet failure to build on previous successes now sees Liverpool feeding off the scraps on offer in the Champions League's poor relation.[LNB]Although an admirable 40,000plus turned up at Anfield last night, there was a sense that no-one really wanted to be there.[LNB]Other than the few hundred Urziceni fans who stayed behind to conduct a rendition of 'Hey Jude', events in the stands were akin to those on the pitch; bereft of inspiration and a little bit flat.[LNB]But then this was Liverpool's first taste of European football away from the elite since 2004 when a Didier Drogba-inspired Marseille dumped Gerard Houllier's team out of the UEFA Cup at the fourth round stage.[LNB]Indeed, it was Rafa Benitez's Valencia that went on to beat the French club in the final that year.
